Fusion of Visual-Inertial Odometry with LiDAR Relative Localization for Cooperative Guidance of a Micro-Scale Aerial Vehicle

Fuente: arXiv
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Hauptverfasser: Pritzl, Václav, Vrba, Matouš, Štěpán, Petr, Saska, Martin
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2023
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author Pritzl, Václav
Vrba, Matouš
Štěpán, Petr
Saska, Martin
author_facet Pritzl, Václav
Vrba, Matouš
Štěpán, Petr
Saska, Martin
contents A novel relative localization approach for guidance of a micro-scale Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) by a well-equipped aerial robot fusing Visual-Inertial Odometry (VIO) with Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) is proposed in this paper. LiDAR-based localization is accurate and robust to challenging environmental conditions, but 3D LiDARs are relatively heavy and require large UAV platforms, in contrast to lightweight cameras. However, visual-based self-localization methods exhibit lower accuracy and can suffer from significant drift with respect to the global reference frame. To benefit from both sensory modalities, we focus on cooperative navigation in a heterogeneous team of a primary LiDAR-equipped UAV and a secondary micro-scale camera-equipped UAV. We propose a novel cooperative approach combining LiDAR relative localization data with VIO output on board the primary UAV to obtain an accurate pose of the secondary UAV. The pose estimate is used to precisely and reliably guide the secondary UAV along trajectories defined in the primary UAV reference frame. The experimental evaluation has shown the superior accuracy of our method to the raw VIO output, reaching the average 3D Absolute Trajectory Error (ATE) of 0.28 m, and demonstrated its capability to guide the secondary UAV along desired trajectories while mitigating VIO drift. Thus, such a heterogeneous system can explore large areas with LiDAR precision, as well as visit locations inaccessible to the large LiDAR-carrying UAV platforms, as was showcased in a real-world cooperative mapping scenario.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2306_17544
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Fusion of Visual-Inertial Odometry with LiDAR Relative Localization for Cooperative Guidance of a Micro-Scale Aerial Vehicle
Pritzl, Václav
Vrba, Matouš
Štěpán, Petr
Saska, Martin
Robotics
A novel relative localization approach for guidance of a micro-scale Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) by a well-equipped aerial robot fusing Visual-Inertial Odometry (VIO) with Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) is proposed in this paper. LiDAR-based localization is accurate and robust to challenging environmental conditions, but 3D LiDARs are relatively heavy and require large UAV platforms, in contrast to lightweight cameras. However, visual-based self-localization methods exhibit lower accuracy and can suffer from significant drift with respect to the global reference frame. To benefit from both sensory modalities, we focus on cooperative navigation in a heterogeneous team of a primary LiDAR-equipped UAV and a secondary micro-scale camera-equipped UAV. We propose a novel cooperative approach combining LiDAR relative localization data with VIO output on board the primary UAV to obtain an accurate pose of the secondary UAV. The pose estimate is used to precisely and reliably guide the secondary UAV along trajectories defined in the primary UAV reference frame. The experimental evaluation has shown the superior accuracy of our method to the raw VIO output, reaching the average 3D Absolute Trajectory Error (ATE) of 0.28 m, and demonstrated its capability to guide the secondary UAV along desired trajectories while mitigating VIO drift. Thus, such a heterogeneous system can explore large areas with LiDAR precision, as well as visit locations inaccessible to the large LiDAR-carrying UAV platforms, as was showcased in a real-world cooperative mapping scenario.
title Fusion of Visual-Inertial Odometry with LiDAR Relative Localization for Cooperative Guidance of a Micro-Scale Aerial Vehicle
topic Robotics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.17544